Consumers who bought Madden NFL, NCAA Football or Arena Football Xbox games affected

If you bought a new copy of an Electronic Arts' Madden NFL, NCAA Football, or Arena Football videogame for Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, GameCube, PC, or Wii, with a release date of January 1, 2005 to June 21, 2012, you may be covered by the proposed settlement to a class action lawsuit.

A proposed settlement has been reached in a class action alleging that Electronic Arts overcharged consumers for some football videogames. Electronic Arts denies any liability and all allegations of misconduct, including that it overcharged consumers.

The settlement must still be approved by the U.S. District Court in Oakland. A hearing has been for Feb 7, 2013, according to Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, the law firm representing consumers.

EA denies it

The lawsuit claims that Electronic Arts violated federal and California antitrust laws, as well as California consumer protection laws, by signing exclusive licensing agreements with the NCAA, NFL and other organizations. Electronic Arts denies that there is a relevant market limited to "interactive football videogames," and denies that it ever charged inflated prices for its videogames.

You are a member of the Settlement Class if you are in the United States and bought a new copy of an Electronic Arts' Madden NFL, NCAA Football, or Arena Football videogame for Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, GameCube, PC, or Wii, with a release date of January 1, 2005 to June 21, 2012.

The proposed settlement provides that Electronic Arts will pay $27 million into a fund that will include money for class members after deducting lawyers fees and other costs.